


Neighbors

by Harleyreadit



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Bisexual Gabriel (Supernatural), M/M, Pansexual Sam Winchester, Tattoo Artist Gabriel (Supernatural), coffee shop owner Sam Winchester (Supernatural)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-05 03:54:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,537
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17911529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harleyreadit/pseuds/Harleyreadit
Summary: The summer wind picked up, swinging the sign above the entrance. On the sign, there shared two opposing shops: A study-space based cafe and a tattoo shop. It was a tightly knit city, not that anyone minded, but its space was limited to stacking, even if the owners of each didn't look the type to co-exist. It was just the way of life for shop owners.(Shout out to a lovely Sasha in the comments for helping me out with a tag!)





	Neighbors

The summer wind picked up, swinging the sign above the entrance. On the sign, there shared two opposing shops: A study-space based cafe and a tattoo shop. It was a tightly knit city, not that anyone minded, but its space was limited to stacking, even if the owners of each didn't look the type to co-exist. It was just the way of life for shop owners.

Every morning, Gabriel, the tattoo shop owner, had to pass by Sam, the cafe owner. They would nod at each other, Sam already having Gabe's coffee made and waiting for him at the counter. Well, it was sort of coffee. It was mostly syrup pumped full of energy drinks, a bit of espresso, and a shit ton of whipped cream and sprinkles, despite his look being much more punk than what the drink would give off. His order would pick up some light banter on how much sugar and artificial caffeine was in it and would end with a smile and a bid goodbye. 

This morning was a little different. Gabe walked in, as usual, and smiled at Sam. Sam smiled back but before handing over the Sugary Drink of Death (as Gabe called it when he founded the new recipe), he leaned a little closer, "Hey, um, I was wondering if you did anything other than uh, Traditional?"

The artist smiled, "Yeah, I mean, I can do anything that really fits your need, what were you thinking about?" 

Sam's face grew warm as he stumbled out his words, his fingers wrapping tight around his elbows," Something not too big on my chest?"

The artist slid his drink into his palm and off the counter, taking a long sip of the icy blend before answering, "With free coffee every day? It'll be my pleasure, I'll be back with my card and you can email me or text me a pic or whatever, even if you got a sketch I'll do my best, wanna tell me your ideal? Like color, size style, am I doing tits or?"

Sam's face lit up like a Christmas bulb when Gabe mentioned "tits". He shook his head, "Oh, no, nothing like that. I don't want any of, uh, yeah." he took a deep breath before reaching under the counter and pulled out a book. Flipping through the pages, "You can take this copy to scan or whatever, I just pre-ordered the, "He stopped himself as he found the page he found, realizing that he was about to start on a tangent that Gabe probably didn't want to hear. 

He slid the book towards him open to a page that had a star in a ring of wave-like-fire. It was a small chapter marker before the numbers. Gabe looked at it for a moment, tracing it with his eyes before nodding. " I can do that, chest you said?"

Sam nodded, a smile spreading across his face, "Yeah, "he patted the left side of his chest towards the center, "Right here."

Gabe nodded, "I'll have this ready in about five, just tell me when you're ready to get it. You know it's a lot of line work, so it's gonna be a little tender, plus shading, its gonna hurt. "

Sam's smile only grew as the situation only set the soon tattoo session was being set in stone, "Oh, not worried, this isn't my first."

Gabe smiled, taking a look at the barista as though he were looking at him for the first time, "It's always the quiet ones," His mind wondered over where he might have the mystery art but he quickly shut it off, "I'll see you when you're ready."

A half hour later, Sam closed up the cafe and headed upstairs. It was the first time he has ever been up there. The entrance held a sign with a traditional panther snarling with an anchor tattooed on its neck, around it described the house rules: If you're drunk, underage, or just an asshole, come back when you're not. " From there, there were framed art of women, flowers, and animals (or a mix of all three plus skulls) around the walls, some of them had signatures that Sam didn't recognize. He came to the desk where Gabe was sitting with his back turned, a reference picture on the screen of a tiger. Sam awkwardly knocked on the desk to get his attention, feeling his heart pound in his ears. 

Gabe looked back and smiled, "I'll be right with you man, take a seat, fill out the form right up front, take a couple stickers, I'll show you around when I'm done setting up the bench."

Sam nodded and took the clipboard back with to a row of chairs lined up against the wall facing the main desk. It asked his name, address, phone number, ID number, and a signature. The bottom of the page asked for the date, Sam's name again, Gabe's name and the number of his tattooing license. Sam filled out what he could and left the bottom to Gabe. He took another look around and found a stack of portfolios on the far end of the chairs. He found that there were at least another four artists working here, they all had their own developed unique style with the similar expressions of tradition, neo-tradition, and even one who did really minimalistic styled stuff. 

Halfway through the last one, that was filled with eyebrows, Gabe stepped out, "You fill out the form?"

Sam nodded and handed it over and with that, he was getting a tour around the shop. It was a lot bigger than what Sam had expected, they did micro-blading (which explained the eyebrows), a "tattoo-school", modeling room and finally the separate stations divided by a home-owner style wall and privacy currents. Sam took the opportunity, "Hey, I didn't know that there were other artists who worked here, "Gabe turned to him as he said this, confusion written on his face, "I've only seen you and customers use the cafe entrance?"

"Oh!" The realization hit him only a couple seconds after Sam had finished, "The employee entrance is in the back, so they don't have to walk around." Sam gave him a questioning look, so Gabe answered before he could ask, " I like your coffee, I like your face, and you're a pretty cool person to talk to, so I prefer your entrance over mine." He finished with a smirk and turned to lead him to his station that was covered in plastic wrap where he was sure he'd need to touch between the needle, Sam's skin, and the supplies. 

Sam took off both of his shirts while Gabe prepared the stencil. Gabe looked up while he instructed Sam to get comfortable on the table and smiled, but didn't comment on the lack of ink above the waste yet. The whole process of checking the placement of the tattoo, the way it'll face and what-not didn't take too long, soon he was laying down with the shorter man leaning over his chest buzzing in the outline. It wasn't until Gabe was halfway through the outline when he asked, "So, what do I have to do to see the other tattoo?" He was praying that the flirt would read over well since Sam didn't exactly seem like the type that would scream queer. 

"Dinner is a start, "He smiled, also hoping that the flirt would be read as such. 

Gabe laughed nervously, "So maybe this Friday?" 

Sam paused, letting the buzzing of the machine fill the air for a moment before speaking again, "Yeah? I mean, you might have to clarify here," 

Gabe stopped tattooing for a moment, "A date?"

The tall man smiled from the table. He nodded and without another word, they continued to the process of the tattoo. It took about an hour to finish the job with the room filled with awkward silence. Gabe wondered if he should have waited till after the job was done to ask him out. But with it done, all that was left was the awkward ring up and to part ways. He helped the giant up off the bench and lead him to the mirror once again. A smile spread across his face as his hand touched the edge of the Saniderm that was stuck to him for healing. It nearly split it in two as he marveled at the fact that it was there. It was red and already starting to swell and become tender, but to Sam, it was something special. He turned to Gabe and shook his hand, thanking him for the job well done, Gabe handed him his shirts, recommending the flannel as it wasn't as tight as the tee-shirt (comfort reasons, of course). 

It didn't take long for the two to be at the front desk and for Gabe to print up the receipt for Sam. Sam left his flannel open for a few moments as he gathered what he needed for the aftercare and fumbling with business cards, his shirt, and writing his number down for the artist. Fumbling aside, they set the date in stone for that Friday, uselessly being awkward for the majority of the time.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Don't forget to check out my Wattpad @Harleyreadit, and my Tumblr @fea-boulous! I would really appreciate it if you stopped by and said hello, left a request, or even ask any questions! Thank you for reading!


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